Rutgers’ ground game could wind up being the whole story when USC opens Big Ten play on Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights enter the matchup with a backfield that has been anything but settled, and the offseason move involving Aiden Gibson says plenty about where things stood. Gibson, a four-star running back, flipped his commitment from Penn State to Rutgers, according to Hayes Fawcett, and also reclassified to the class of 2026, which gives him a shot to arrive earlier than originally planned.
Gibson checks in at 6-foot-1 and 212 pounds and plays at Woodruff High School in Woodruff, South Carolina. He was ranked No. 17 among running backs and No. 269 overall in the nation. Rutgers has already seen most of its class of 2026 enroll, though Gibson’s exact enrollment timing remains unclear.
When he does arrive, he will be part of Rutgers’ No. 54 class of 2026, per 247Sports. The Scarlet Knights also hold the No. 39 composite class and the No. 81 transfer class.
The bigger point is what that kind of move suggests about the running back room Rutgers was working with. A player shifting his timetable up by a year is a strong sign that the Scarlet Knights were looking for more certainty there.
That uncertainty makes Saturday’s matchup with USC especially interesting. Rutgers will need to lean on the run game, control the football, and keep it away from Jayden Maiava if it wants any real shot at pulling off the win. That remains the biggest key to the game.
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USC Heads To Rutgers With A New Receiver Concern
USCs trip to Rutgers brings a little more uncertainty to an already important stretch, with true freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley now on the injury list and ruled out because of a knee ailment. The setback is a notable one for a young receiver who had started to carve out a role, and Lincoln Riley said the length of the injury remains unclear while not appearing to be something the staff views as long-term.
For a Trojans offense that has leaned on depth and development at receiver, Mosleys absence opens the door for others to absorb a bigger share of the load. Zacharyus Williams and Terrell Anderson are among the options USC is looking at to help fill the void, and how quickly that group settles in will matter as the Trojans head into a road game with another piece suddenly missing from the plan. [Read more 🡒]
USCs New Reality Is Missing What Made Trojans Football Matter
USCs move to the Big Ten was supposed to bring bigger stages and wider reach, but it has also come with a cost that shows up well beyond the travel budget. The Trojans are now paying more than $4 million for nonconference guarantee games against smaller programs, a reminder that the new calendar is built differently from the one USC fans knew for decades. Just as important, the matchups that once gave the season its pulse have started to fade, replaced by a slate that feels unfamiliar from top to bottom.
The bigger issue for USC is not just expense, but identity. A schedule full of new or infrequent opponents can make the season harder to anchor, and the loss of marquee rivalry games like Notre Dame strips away some of the drama that made Trojan football feel essential. For a program that long sold itself on tradition, pageantry and big-game relevance, the Big Ten era has delivered a different kind of football, one that asks fans to keep caring even as the old touchstones grow harder to find. [Read more 🡒]
USC Basketball Faces A Troubling Locker Room Fight Before The Season
USCs offseason has already taken an uncomfortable turn before the Trojans even get to opening tip. Chad Baker-Mazara has filed a lawsuit against the program and coach Eric Musselman after his dismissal from the basketball team in early March, and the filing centers on what allegedly happened in the locker room after a game against Nebraska. The case adds a jarring layer to a team trying to move forward under a new coach, with USC now forced to answer questions that extend well beyond the usual spring roster churn.
The lawsuit alleges Musselman used racially charged and profane language toward Baker-Mazara in that postgame setting, while USC has denied the claims and said the dismissal had nothing to do with race. The school intends to fight the case in court, leaving the episode unresolved for now and putting an uneasy spotlight on the atmosphere surrounding the program as it heads toward the new season. [Read more 🡒]